Deconstructing Alice Waters
Anthony Bourdain is the quintessential lighting rod in the narrow confines of the US food world. Folks either love him or hate him. I loved Kitchen Confidential because it humanized the shadowy world of fine dining. He told the truth – or at least his version of the truth.
In his latest book, Medium Raw, we have the added surprise of an older Bourdain who actually has distilled (literally) into an excellent writer. There are the obligatory “Emperor’s New Clothes” undressing of pretentious and over hyped celebrity chefs of course – that’s his trademark. But even here his skill in deconstructing Alice Waters is akin to watching a fine surgeon at work.
Where Bourdain really shines however, far beyond “food writing”, are in his chapters in which he roams the world in jewel-like vignettes of food experiences, and in the amazing profile of the fish butcher at Le Bernardin. Justo Thomas prepares 700 pounds of fish at the country’s best fish restaurant every day – 1,000 pounds on weekends! He is an artist, as is Bourdain’s description.
Or not – you either love the guy or you don’t.
Richard Wottrich
No comments:
Post a Comment